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Speaker Ryan chooses partisanship over national security

Posted January 30, 2018

Ryan calls for “cleanse” of FBI and release of a classified memo that the DOJ labels “extraordinarily reckless”

MADISON -- Today, Speaker Paul Ryan joined the chorus of House Republicans seeking to force the release a partisan memo over the objections of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Justice.

Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee voted to release a memo, prepared by the staff of GOP Rep. Devin Nunes, without letting the Department of Justice review it to ensure it does not compromise their sources and methods. The DOJ has stated that releasing the memo without such a review would be “extraordinarily reckless” and could endanger both national security and ongoing investigations.

Today, Paul Ryan endorsed this “reckless” step and took the situation even further, saying “let it all out, get it all out there. Cleanse the organization.” This casual suggestion of a political purge of the FBI comes after months of Ryan’s party launching baseless partisan attacks on the FBI, DOJ and Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

The following is a statement from Martha Laning, chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin:

“It is appalling that Wisconsin's Paul Ryan sounds more like a right-wing conspiracy theorist than the Speaker of the House. His blatant injection of partisan politics into our intelligence agencies is alarming, and it is horrifying to see him call for what appears to be a political purge of the FBI.

“We need a Congress that will fix our roads and bridges, expand and defend our health care and give our workers a raise. Speaker Ryan needs to spend more time helping Wisconsin families and less time turning our national security into an alarming partisan spectacle.”